Paper Poinsettia Template

How to make the paper poinsettia

1. Print at Actual size (100%, not “Fit to page”) and check the 50 mm bar at the foot of the sheet with a ruler. Card of 160 to 220 g/m² (60 to 80 lb cover) holds the creased bracts up; printer paper works for a flat flower but the bracts droop. The colour-in version prints only outlines, so you can also print it straight onto red, white or cream card.
2. Cut out every layer on its solid line, letter A (the green leaves) to the centre buds. The narrow V between two bracts is the only fiddly cut: snip into it from each side rather than turning the scissors.
3. Crease every bract along its dashed centre line: run a dry ballpoint along it against a ruler, then pinch the bract so the line stands up as a ridge and the two halves tip down. This is what turns flat card into a 3D flower.
4. Glue the layers in letter order, A at the bottom, a dot of glue in the centre only, so the bracts stay free to lift. Turn each layer so its bracts sit in the gaps of the layer below.
5. Glue the centre buds on top. A few gold or yellow beads, or rolled tissue balls, make it more real.

Garland: pierce the two marked holes in each leaf layer with a skewer onto an eraser, thread string in through the front of one hole and out through the front of the other, so the string runs behind the flower, then glue the bracts on. Wreath: cut the ring from a cereal box or thick card (glue its arcs end to end on the grey tabs if it comes in several), then glue a flower on each numbered circle. Gift topper: fold the paper loop on its lines and glue its two ends to the back of the leaves; the parcel ribbon slides under it. Napkin ring: roll the band, glue it on its grey tab, and glue a flower over the seam.

Questions

Is there a free printable poinsettia template PDF?

Yes. Every version is free, with no sign-up. “Download PDF” makes the whole set as an A4 or US Letter PDF (the page picks the size your device’s language suggests; switch it under Paper), every piece at true size with at least 8 mm of white round the edge so home printers do not clip it. “PNG, 300 dpi” saves the sheet you are looking at as an image. A layer bigger than one sheet, such as the 40 cm leaf layer, is split into tiles that overlap by 14 mm: cut each sheet along its grey trim line, lay that edge on the dotted line of the sheet before so the round marks meet, and tape it from behind.

How big is each layer of a paper poinsettia?

Each layer is a fixed share of the flower’s diameter, measured across the circle through its tips: in the 4-layer flower the leaves are 100%, the bracts 86%, 68%, 50% and 34%, and the centre 13%. The 3-layer flower uses 100%, 84%, 62% and 42% with a 14% centre. Every layer is checked before it is drawn: its tips must land within 1 mm of its stated size, and it must be smaller than the layer under it. The leaf and first two bract layers have 6 points, the small top layers 5, which is how a real poinsettia looks from above.

How do I make a paper poinsettia wreath?

Choose Wreath, the number of flowers and their size. The page sizes the ring so the flowers fit round it: their centres sit on a circle whose length is the number of flowers times the flower diameter, less the overlap. With 8 flowers of 10 cm overlapping by 10%, that centre line is 8 × 100 × 0.9 = 720 mm, a circle of radius 115 mm, and the printed ring is 274 mm across and 45 mm wide, with a numbered circle where each flower goes. “Just touching” leaves 2% overlap instead, for a lighter look. A ring too big for one sheet prints in arcs with grey glue tabs. Hang it with a ribbon tied round the ring.

How do I make a paper poinsettia garland?

Choose Garland and 3 to 12 flowers; 10 to 15 cm flowers look right along a mantel. Each leaf layer has two 3 mm string holes, on the leaves pointing left and right, placed where the leaf is widest and checked to sit at least 5 mm from any edge, so the card does not tear. The page tells you how much string to cut: 6 flowers of 12 cm with 5 cm between them need about 1.8 m, including 40 cm at each end to tie up.

Is there a poinsettia template for kids?

Yes: choose Kids under Layers. It is two layers (6 leaves and 5 bracts) and a centre, with rounded tips and wide gaps between the bracts, so children can cut it with safety scissors and nothing needs a craft knife. It starts at 15 cm so every piece is big enough for small hands. With Colour-in it prints outlines only, for crayons or paint, and it doubles as a preschool Christmas craft or a classroom wreath where each child makes one flower.

Can I cut it with a Cricut or Silhouette?

Yes. “SVG cut file” saves every different piece once at true size in millimetres, outlines (and garland holes) in the cut group and the bract creases in the score group; for a garland or wreath, cut the flower pieces as many times as you have flowers. Silhouette Studio’s free Basic Edition does not open SVG, so “DXF (Silhouette)” saves the same lines on layers CUT and SCORE. A 20 cm flower fits a 12 × 24 in mat; a 12 cm one fits a 12 × 12 in mat.